Savage Fan Fallout

Addiction Rules

Drugs are a big part of Fallout. In a world where slavers snatch the unprotected, where civilized lands struggle to protect the weak, and a tough harvest can be ruined by shifting winds, many turn to chemicals for solace and escape. And where there is need, there are always those looking to profit by satisfying it.

Luckily for the adventurer, many of the substances in the wastes have highly beneficial effects. Unfortunately, every high point comes with a downside: addiction is easy to come by and hard to shake.

Addiction:
Addiction to drugs can be handled in several ways; our favorite is the Countdown method. Basically, every time you take an addictive drug, you start a countdown to addiction. Roll one Spirit check for every use of a highly addictive drug, and after three failures, the user becomes an addict.

But addiction is slow in coming on; after the first Spirit vs Addiction failure, the user merely gains a -1 to her next Spirit vs Addiction roll. The next failure means the user gains a Habit (minor) for that drug, and it isn’t until the next failure that the drug becomes the characters Drug of Choice, and the user gains the Habit (major) Hindrance.

Example: A Player takes Buffout (a powerful steroid), and as it kicks in, they roll a Spirit check vs Addiction. If they succeed, great. Nothing happens. There’s no penalty.
If they fail, though, they gain a -1 to their NEXT Spirit check vs addiction to that drug. If they succeed on that next roll, they’re fine, but still have a -1 to their Spirit roll every time they take Buffout.

If they fail on that next roll, they gain a Minor Habit, and get the -1 to Charisma that comes with that, and they keep their -1 to subsequent Spirit checks vs Addiction with that drug.
If they fail once more upon taking the drug again, they gain a Major Habit for their new Drug of Choice, and HAVE to have it every day (or whatever the GM determines is the appropriate time frame).